World Citizen Practice: Catalyst Church - Middletown, CT

Originally Posted to firesofcreation.gaia.com on Sep 13th, 2009

My World Citizen Practice is a means to try and connect with the reality beyond surfaces and discover the peace that can come from this perspective by making contact with the one behind the many. In less abstract terms, it means to celebrate the diversity surrounding us but not to lose site of our non dual interconnected core, binding all of us together as one. In this unity, a space for freedom is born thus allowing for diversity to flower. It’s the whole paradox expressed in the U2 song “One,” where Bono sings, “We are one, but we are not the same.”

The world citizen practice I've developed is born out of a conviction, that like the diverse drinks we consume that are all connected by the common denominator of water, so to are all religions linked together by the universal spirit within. Hindus, Jews, Christians, Muslims, or practitioners of any other wisdom tradition may have a diverse language of symbolism and elaborate rituals that appear different on the outside, but inside they are all expressing the journey of the same inner spirit, connecting us all into one being. Even in religions where there are obstacles obstructing the spiritual path, eventually blinders will be removed and truth revealed. Water always returns to its source. 

Because I started my journey with an orientation leaning towards the left side of the polarity, I was naturally drawn towards Eastern spirituality. Atheism resonated more with me than Western theism. This is why I immersed myself into Buddhism and joined a sangha. Buddhism served as a home base grounding me and providing an environment with a freedom to develop and implement the World Citizen Practice which is basically a means of seeking to bridge the divide with the opposite side. The journey for every individual usually begins with an orientation leaning towards one half of the polarity and ends by reaching out for the other side to eventually integrate the two polar energies within oneself, finding greater wholeness and integrity. 

This is why my World Citizen Practice seeks a balance by bridging the divide between the East and West, the left and right. Half of my attention is spent at my home base while the other half is traveling outside my comfort zone to explore and befriend western religions while extinguishing fears that this experience will bring me face to face with the  potential duality within; their dark side. 

Just as the unintegrated right side expresses their fears of evil emerging out of the left, the unintegrated left side expresses their fears of evil emerging from the right. World W1n was a vehicle from which I was able to express my own personal fears. Do I know for sure they aren’t going to play out? It is possible that our world as we know it could come to a screeching halt in the fires of World War III caused by a battle between East and West. But it is also just as possible that it won’t. I’ve spent enough time worrying about this possibility and the best way to extinguish one’s fears is to face and overcome them. Then the next phase of the journey becomes a movement away from fear into hopefulness and a focus on visualizing and then moving towards desirable outcomes rather than obsessing about potential worse case scenarios.

I’ve already attended several Christian services in and around Middletown and my goal is to continue doing so until I’ve found one that welcomes world citizen ideals as much as my sangha. Uniting Christ and Buddha is a symbolic exercise representing a viable bridge capable of uniting East with West. The great thing about Middletown is its spiritual and religious diversity. There is not only a Hindu temple here, but also Buddhist centers, a Muslim Mosque and Jewish synagogue; all of which I’m in the process of exploring (for those that I haven’t already).

Today, I checked out a new Christian church that just opened in Middletown called Catalyst Church. It was a heavy dose of Western Yang energy expressed by their own personal rock band. 

At the very beginning of the service, was a symbol that reminded me again of my fears that inspired World W1n. 

During worship as the band performed, two video screens projected the song lyrics for all to read. In the background were computer generated blue patterns. One of the blue patterns present for several of the songs was something that looked just like a Nazi swastika. Part of me thought of the tell tale signs of a potential sweeping religious revival in America of a fanatical kind, justifying the alarm of Sinclair Lewis that lead to his famous quote, “When fascism comes to America, it will be draped in the flag and carrying a cross.”

Another part of me was reminded by how the similar symbolism in Buddhism was hijacked by Hitler and is cause of concern for those who first come to Buddhism but don’t dig any deeper only to leave forever because they fear it is being commandeered by Nazi’s. 

After the catalyst rock band finished, we were introduced to the pastor, Michael Larkin. His sermon put me to ease, as its emphasis focussed on an inner fulfillment guided by a movement away from the limited ego towards the fellowship and wholeness of the collective. (the same emphasis is found within Buddhism) Some of the main points of Larkin’s sermon were as followed;

“Jesus always met physical and emotional needs before he ever got into spiritual needs. We can’t leave the spiritual part out when ministering to people. A child who gets a backpack he needed for school is good but it doesn’t help him when he goes home and sees his parents throwing things at each other. It doesn’t help a child who goes home and sees his parents shooting up on drugs. And it doesn’t help a child who has great parents but they have to work all the time just to survive. The only thing that can help them is if they hear about God’s power to make a way out of now way. As a church we don’t have all the answers, and a lot of times we don’t know what to say, but God is saying I can.” This reminded me of the concept of “Other Power” in Buddhism. 

Further in his sermon, Larkin described the message of the Bible as a passion of God in pursuit of a prodigal people. “You may not understand Revelation or understand the ending. The old testament; all it’s doing is saying Jesus is coming. And here’s why he needs to come. And the New Testament, all it’s doing from Matthew through Revelation, is pointing back to Jesus and what he did on the cross. That’s the Bible. It’s the passion of God in pursuit of a prodigal people.”

“Moses says to the Lord, Lord I’ve never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you’ve spoken to your servants. I’m slow of speech and tongue and I stutter and I can’t say anything. And the Lord said to him, “who gave site to the blind? Is it not I the Lord? I’ll help you to speak and teach you what to say.” The Lord, as Larkin describes in this situation represents higher consciousness; the God like part of ourselves capable of rising above negative circumstances to push us into action even though we may feel inadequate.

“Some may say, my past is dark. You can’t use me.” “No, no, I created you and I want to use you.” Moses says, “please send someone else to do the job.” Then God got angry. “People are living without hope, now go.” Of course God has to get angry because he’s a passionate God in pursuit of a prodigal people. “I want to use you. I want you to make a difference in this community. I want you to have purpose. I want you to have significance and life. I want people to find life in Christ because of what I am doing inside of you.” And you’re coming to God and saying, who am I? That’s an amazing place to start. That’s where we have to start. Because it shows that God is saying, “here we go. There’s something huge I want you guys to do.” 

“Are there burning bushes in your life that you’ve been ignoring? Maybe you’ve got to go back to your middle school days when you were curious. Burning bushes take all forms and shapes.” Larkin was speaking here of crisis in people’s lives that make them want to fold up and throw in the towel. “Maybe this is your burning bush. And maybe if you stop long enough to check it out, maybe God will reveal something to you. “Hey look. I want you to have a purpose and significance with your life.” Larkin’s sermon ended with a challenge calling us towards community service and action; “I want to challenge you with this question. Will you let God be a burning bush in your life? Will you let him say to you, here we go.” 

The music after the service was good and the lyrics seemed to be expressing a reference towards spirit. "Come to the waters and you will thirst no more." At another point, the lyrics made me think about Eckhart Tolle and the power of now. "Love is here. Love is now."

I left Catalyst church glad that I had explored it. It is possible that I may return at some point in the future.

------------------9/16--------------Update--------------->

To be fair to Michael Larkin and his church, I'm posting his response to my blog:

"Thank you as well for your honest candid evaluation of our service. I also want to thank you for pointing out what could be perceived by some to be a swastika. I in no way agree with the thoughts or actions behind the symbol. It is one of those things that we just never noticed. Thank you for bringing it to my attention, we have deleted that background."